General Atomics Wins Future US Navy Carrier Aircraft Arresting Gear Contract

General Atomics (GA) has been awarded a production contract modification for the Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) for the future Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier Enterprise (CVN 80).

This contract award establishes GA as the sole source provider of both AAG and the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) for the first three Ford-class carriers, Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), and Enterprise (CVN 80).

“This is a significant step toward ensuring all the materials and support associated with EMALS and AAG are readily available to launch and recover aircraft from Ford-class carriers for decades to come,” stated Scott Forney, president of GA Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS). “CVN 78 was delivered in May.

Construction on CVN 79 is well underway. And work is scheduled to begin on CVN 80 within the year. GA-EMS will provide all production, manufacturing, engineering, design and program management, logistics support, and information assurance.

GA-EMS will also subcontract to suppliers across the United States for necessary component manufacturing support. AAG has undergone successful aircraft fly-in arrestment testing at the Runway Arrested Landing Site at Joint base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey.

“AAG is installed and undergoing testing on CVN 78, which recently completed the Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) trials,” stated Rolf Ziesing, vice president of Programs at GA-EMS.